Stop The Presses…

The above photo is NOT mine.

I’m struggling with posting my photos on the internet – this blog, Instagram, GaiaGPS, or any other social media. This is why I’ve been quiet for a while.

Hiking, the environment, the outdoors, and Leave No Trace are not part of the Instagram/Facebook revolution. In the last few years, huge numbers of people are showing up and destroying some of the Pacific Northwest’s most unique treasures. You’ll find crowds, loud music, trash, broken beer bottles, human & dog shit, and vandalism at any of these places now.

I’m making an assumption that (social) media has played a part in highlighting these areas as great spots to visit. I’ve chased my own likes and followers for a couple of years now and I’m sure my part in this very small, however the LNT crowd can be pretty adamant about what should be shown in photographs and as a (former?) conservation photographer, I feel much the same way.

I also feel that if social media is to blame, it may also be the solution.

I’ll no longer be geotagging or identifying the location of my photos and many hashtags will be omitted or changed. I’ll try to help educate people on how to best LNT in the outdoors, and I’m going to have to continue to examine my part in the issue whether it’s my own behavior outdoors or what I’m photographing or posting.

I thank you all for following me and hope you continue to enjoy my photos, and if you really want to know where something is, you can register an account here and get access to the maps. If I don’t approve your account, it’s not because I’m a douchebag photographer protecting my secret photo spots so I can become rich off of them, it’s because I don’t want the place to get trampled any more than it already is. Sorry, that’s just how I feel about it, it breaks my heart to see nice things ruined.

You’re welcome to continue sharing my profile and images but I ask you to respect my captions and locations when you do and to take a few words to educate your followers on LNT.